The present invention relates to an optical wavelength analyzer and optical imaging system, and in particular, to such a system wherein the properties of superconducting films are utilized in the production of optical energy sensitive components.
It is known that superconducting films may be sensitive to optical radiation. See, for example, the following articles relating to the optical sensitivity of superconducting films:
(1) Transient Responses of Superconducting Lead Films measured with Picosecond Laser Pulses, by Chi et al, Physical Review B, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 1981, The American Physical Society; PA1 (2) Highly Sensitive Optical Detector Using Superconducting Oxide BaPb0.7 Bi0.3 03 (BPB), by Enomoto et al, Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 2M No. 5, May 1984, pp. L333-L335; PA1 (3) Effect and Applications of Patterned Laser Illumination on Superconducting Films, by Chi et al, Physical Review B, Vol. 29, No. 9, May 1984, The American Physical Society; PA1 (4) Transient Response of Superconducting Pb Microbridges Irradiated by Picosecond Laser Pulses and its Potential Applications, by Chi et al, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. MAG-17, No. 1, January 1981; PA1 (5) Nonequilibrium Phenomena in Superconductivity, Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics, Vol. 5, 1975, pp. 223-263, by D. N. Langenberg.
The article by Enomoto et al. suggests that Josephson junctions may be responsive to optical radiation, but there is no suggestion in this reference that Josephson junctions may be sensitive to a broad range of optical energy. The January 1981 article by Chi et al. studies the transient responses of superconducting lead films and indicates that such lead films are responsive to incident optical radiation.
None of these references, however, suggest that Josephson junctions can be utilized as optically sensitive elements of an optical detection system, nor do any of the references suggest how signals from Josephson junctions can be processed to take advantage of their sensitivity to optical radiation.